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A project about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder)

Hello there,

My name is Joe Robertshaw - I am a graphic design student from the north of the England, UK, and have a proposal/query that i would like to try and bring to the attention of as many beekeeping practicioners, enthusiasts or specialists as I can in the short time I have during my current project.

As im sure i dont need to inform you, the supposed 'Colony Collapse Disorder' of late is supposedly having all matter of damaging effects on agriculture, worlwide pollination and of course the populus of the honey bee itself (amongst other species). My current project requires me to represent any manner of "gathered statistical information" on any subject of my choosing, into a well informed, visual representation (an infographic, in a narrative fashion) of my findings and it is within my interest to investigate the topic of Colony Collapse Disorder and its legitimacy. My findings on this topic so far have been of vast quanitity, but there is a great deal yet to be confirmed and the skepticism surrounding the matter makes it difficult to make any informed decisions or opinions - it is a very clouded subject that needs to be addressed properly to give clarity to a concerned audience, both in the US and other regions of the world.

Now, though the general idea in my project is to develop my ability to transform information and statistics into a contemporary, visually appealing piece of work, more importantly to me is the message it could and by all means should communicate - it is not in my job description to make my chosen subject an entirely relevant based on a pressing issue or matter; but i feel that choosing to try and portray the truth through my work on the matter of CCD is as relevant as it is a compelling subject.

So what I would require of any of you who would care to oblige me with your time are your views, comments and opinions on what is of absolute import on this subject - what do you feel are the most important pieces of information on this matter that the public should really know about Colony Collapse? What truths and obscurities must absolutely be made clear? Is it a natural phenomenon worth investigating, or the result of human influence and involvement that needs to be considerably curbed and or regulated ? An important thing to keep in mind if you should take interest in my proposal, is that as much as i need hard evidence and information, might i suggest contemplating clever and fascinating ways of informatively presenting this subject as to really get into the heads of my audience and inspire genuine intrigue - the general public are often difficult to hook onto such matters so some wit and sharp thinking would go down excellently.

If i could get any of your views or opinions on the matter they would be regarded as very valuable, first hand sources of information that I would love to be able to apply to my project and present in my findings. All comments and opinions are welcome and I thank you for your time and consideration in advance.

Re: A project about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder)

The whole subject of CCD is a bit controversial. Despite exhaustive work by a lot of highly qualified researchers no one has ever discovered exactly what "it" is other than a specific set of symptoms. Too often CCD is used as a catch-all to describe bee losses in general even though the evidence may not meet the exact definition of CCD. It is generally agreed that when excessively high bee losses occur that the prime culprits are the explainable which usually include some combination of varroa, nosema, loss of bee pasturage (poor nutrition), pesticides, severe winters and shipping stresses. I have kept bees on a commercial level for decades and while I have had lots of losses during that time, I always felt they were an explainable manifestation of these problems and never met the criteria of CCD. Does that clear it up for you? .

"People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe."- Andy Rooney

Re: A project about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder)

Have "they" re defined the symptoms of CCD ? Seems to me anything and everything gets lumped underCCD today, especially the media when talking about bee losses.
Remember when beekeepers first experienced these losses? As far as I can recall these guys were working big hives one week and finding empty hives the next, with sheets of brood left abandoned. Scary stuff, and exactly why Beekeepers reacted in such a panic. I'm sure it was the media involvement and the worlds entire listing of special interest groups which skewed the story and manipulated it to fit their purpose

Re: A project about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder)

Originally Posted by Ian

Have "they" re defined the symptoms of CCD ? Seems to me anything and everything gets lumped underCCD today, especially the media when talking about bee losses.
Remember when beekeepers first experienced these losses? As far as I can recall these guys were working big hives one week and finding empty hives the next, with sheets of brood left abandoned. Scary stuff, and exactly why Beekeepers reacted in such a panic. I'm sure it was the media involvement and the worlds entire listing of special interest groups which skewed the story and manipulated it to fit their purpose

I don't think there has been a redefinition just a change in focus away from CCD to losses in general. It's easy to find losses to investigate but considerably more difficult to find those that fit the specific criteria of CCD and I would agree there is a lot of misreporting. At least that's my take on it.

"People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe."- Andy Rooney

Re: A project about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder)

I guess the problem might of been trying to diagnosis something that had never ( in our lifetime) been observed before.
So when Beekeepers diagnosis their losses to CCD, what symptoms are they actually seeing? Sheets of uncovered brood is one big symptom that resulted from rapid de population. Is there any other symptoms?

Re: A project about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder)

Originally Posted by Ian

I guess the problem might of been trying to diagnosis something that had never ( in our lifetime) been observed before.
So when Beekeepers diagnosis their losses to CCD, what symptoms are they actually seeing? Sheets of uncovered brood is one big symptom that resulted from rapid de population. Is there any other symptoms?

Plus, I think, the reluctance of bees to rob the empty boxes and difficulty in repopulating the hives. Part of the confusion is that the rapid fall population decline mirrors varroa symptoms and the lack of robbing in the hives may be due to seasonal conditions and a lack of healthy hives in the area. The poor success in repopulating the same boxes the next spring would be highly curious, though, I would think and indicative of something more on the order of pesticide residue (which should be quite detectable) or perhaps nosema.

"People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe."- Andy Rooney

Re: A project about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder)

Bernhard, that is a good discription of the disease. I think beekeeper diagnosing their hives to CCD now are not finding those symptoms, as they were five years or so ago... everything seems to be getting lumped under CCD, seems to have a different meaning now